I adapted Jessica’s recipe a bit because maple syrup is so expensive in Germany. A 50/50 combination of maple syrup and golden syrup work really well together. I want to try maple syrup and agave nectar next.

Bowl full of fruit: watermelon, strawberries and a peach.

Coffee with soy milk in my Dutch mug.

Even though my life is less hectic with reports being finished, I’m not willing to give up this breakfast combination quite yet.

I could not sleep last night. My mind was fighting with itself, making lists, planning lessons, and organizing my classroom.

For over 2 hours, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Sleep eventually came but I woke up on my first day back at work feeling exhausted. Luckily, only the teachers and assistants are in this week!

Breakfast helped get me out of bed.

2 egg omelet with spinach and soft goat’s cheese.

I got to school early and started to work right away. Before long, work was interrupted by catching up with my dear friends and colleagues- hearing all about the wonderful adventures they were on this summer.

I munched on grapes for a mid-morning snack.

Lunch was leftover veggie stir fry from last night.

I stayed at work until 5 then came home and ate the peach before going to the grocery store.

It’s Quiz Time!!!!!!

Can you identify this vegetable?

How about from this angle?

Ok, I’ll give you a little clue…

If you guessed celeriac or celery root…

You Win!!!!!

For two weeks now, I’ve been unable to find just the celery, so today I bought the whole kit and kaboodle!

Celeriac is rumored to be a fantastic root vegetable. Great roasted or in soups, but I’ve not yet tried to cook this ugly duckling.

I was, however, able to use the celery in my dinner.

Spicy Lentil and Tomato Soup

Adapted from Easy GI Diet

Serves 4

Ingredients

250 g (8 oz.) red lentils

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 large celery stick, finely chopped

1 can chopped tomatoes, drained

1/2 tsp. paprika

1-2 fresh red chili peppers, finely chopped

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

2 1/2 cups vegetable stock or water

salt and pepper to taste

fresh parsley or cilantro to garnish

Method

Place the lentils in a bowl and cover with hot water. Set aside. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion, garlic and celery over a low hear until softened.

Drain the lentils and add them to the vegetable pan along with the tomatoes. Stir well. Add the chili, paprika, cumin and vegetable stock and season with salt and pepper.

Cover the pan and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until the lentils are soft. Add a little more water or vegetable stock if the soup becomes too thick.

Garnish as desired and enjoy.

Calories: 288, Protein: 18g, Carbohydrates: 28g, Fat: 2g

This soup is so good! Spicy, fresh and clean tasting.

While eating it, I was struck by the wonderful knowledge that the taste is created by the combination of only real, nature-made food. There’s nothing like eating fresh, whole, real food.

When I thought the meal couldn’t get any better, the fresh German bread jumped in.

The bread of the week at my local bakery.

Before I leave Germany, I must take a bread-baking lesson. That way, no matter where I go in the world, I’ll be able to bring one of my favorite things about Germany with me and share it with others.

While making the soup, I heard the loudest, most blissful purring coming from the office area.

I love the name of puff pastry in German. It is called Blätterteig, which when translated means leaf pastry. The layers are certainly dainty and light like a leaf. oh, and I also love that a roll of Blätterteig only costs 89 cents.

Today, I opened the fridge, saw the roll of puff pastry, an assortment of fruit that needed to be used and cream cheese.

Junk food cheeze balls (at least they are baked!) and the rest of my peach

Most of my day has been spent reading a book my brother recommended.

In my relaxing, I decided to read while taking a bath.

All was well until I got out and realized while drying off that my left arm felt like it was on fire.

When I looked in the mirror, my entire left shoulder was bright red and there was a bright red line running down to my elbow. The skin was raised and swollen. It looked like I had a huge scar running down the back of my arm.

Upon further investigation, I realized that the medicated muscle pain bath serum had leaked.

Now this stuff is strong. On the bottle, it has a huge warning with very specific requirements for how much of the medication (one small cap) is to go into how much water. It also says the exact temperature the water should be and how long to stay in the bath.

Now, when you use this stuff as recommended, your skin does turn sun-burn red for about 10 minutes after the bath and it feels all prickly and itchy.

The concentrated medication must have gotten wet when I filled the bath and then leaked back into the tub, via my body. About an hour after my bath, the redness and swelling started to go away. Now, everything is back to normal, but it was kind of scary.

I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t take pictures and think about putting them on here. But, common sense wins! I really don’t want nearly naked photos of myself on the internet, so you’ll just have to use your imagination. Think scar. Big, red, puffy, scar then you’ll have it.

Back to the food!

Afternoon Snack

Date with peanut butter, times 2!

(Yes, I do realize there is a piece of fuzz/ cat hair on the date. No, I didn’t realize it until just now. Delectable!)

Dinner

I was going to make the couscous stuffed tomatoes like before, but then decided to change from Northern Africa influenced couscous to Italian influenced couscous. So basically, I didn’t use the same recipe at all. I guess I ought to share the new version as it was even better than the first!

Italian Couscous Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients

6 tomatoes (I only used 3 and had a ton of stuffing left over)

1/3 cup instant couscous

1 Tbsp. bruscetta seasoning mix (mine was from Aldi)

2/3 cup boiling water

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 spring onions, chopped

1 tsp. capers

heavy drizzle of olive oil

Method

Cut the tops off the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds and flesh inside the tomato, reserve for later. Turn the tomatoes upside down on a paper towel to drain any excess liquid.

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan. Add the garlic, spring onions, capers and tomato juices. Cook until the onions soften.

Mix the bruscetta seasoning (probably just a mixture of Italian seasoning, salt, and dried tomatoes) with the dry couscous. Pour the boiling water over and mix well before covering tightly for 5 minutes.

Mix the cooked ingredients with the cooked couscous and stuff into the prepared tomatoes.

Microwave on medium power for 3-6 minutes, depending on the size of your tomatoes or bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

I ate one stuffed tomato, along with the remaining stuffing. The other two will be my lunch tomorrow!

I also ate this:

Mixed green salad with another hunk of pan-cooked cheese and balsamic glaze.